Senate Banking Committee Confirms Paul Atkins to Run the U.S. SEC

TL;DR

• The Senate Banking Committee has approved President Trump’s pick to run the U.S. SEC.

• The committee also voted in favor of Jonathan Gould to run the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Paul Atkins Gets Senate Approval

The U.S. Senate Banking Committee has voted in favor of Paul Atkins running the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The committee also voted to advance the confirmation of President Donald Trump's pick to run the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

Paul Atkins is set to become the new SEC chair, taking over from former chair Gary Gensler. With the approval from the Senate committee, Atkins and Jonathan Gould (for OCC) will now move to consideration by the overall Senate.

Atkins and Gould gained approval in the committee on Thursday, winning 13-11 votes. 

Committee Chairman Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican, stated that,

"Paul Atkins, the former SEC commissioner, will promote capital formation and provide much-needed clarity for digital assets. Gould, once chief counsel at the OCC, will put an end to the politically-motivated debanking." 

However, Senator Elizabeth Warren, the committee's ranking Democrat, criticized the nominees before rejecting them. She stated that Atkins was wrong in the leadup to the worst financial crisis in a generation, criticizing his previous tenure at the SEC in the period before the 2008 global financial crisis. 

She also criticized Gould’s previous time at the OCC, stating that he "weakened the rules and helped undermine" the banking system's safety and soundness.